Fuel feeder



June 19, 192.8. G. o.' WILLHIDE FUEL FEEDER,

/Filed' June .29, 1927' 2 sheetssneet L zffmaMY//yide v-vn-Negs:

. INVENTOR am BY ATTORN EY Patented June 19, 1928'.

.GLENN o. WILLHIDE, oFBAnTIMonE', MARYLAND.

FUEL FEEDER.

y Application filed June 29, 19277. Serial No. 202,389.

My lpresent invention has reference to an automatic stoker which isprimarily designed forvfeeding the; fireof a locomotive butmay, ofcourse, be successfully employed for feeding fires of other furnaces,andmy object is to simplify andimprove the existingV art by producing aysteam jet of a novel construction which employs fewer parts than thoseVof the usual type, which may be attached to the furnace in an easiervand quicker manner than is usual and vwhich Will spread the fuel inaneven manner over the entire grate surface.

A still further object that includes a head having steam passagestherethrough and nozzles at the ,outlet end of the head, and which alsoincludes a steam chest which is directly connected to the head and hasports alining withpthe passages in` thehead, and` eachrof the said portsis individually controlled by a needle valve so that the passage ofsteam through anyone of the ports maybe regulated to insure anvevenwdistribution of thel steam andlikewise an even distributionof thefuel in the five box, a single handoperated valve controlingthe'admission of steam to the chest.

Theinvention will be fully and comprehensively understood Vfrom acpnsideration of the following detailed description when read inconnection with the accompanying drawings which form part of theapplication, with the understanding, however, that the improvement iscapable of extended application and is not confined to the exact showingof the drawings nor to the precise construction described and,therefore, such l. changes and modifications may be made therefrom as donot affect the spirit of the invention nor exceed the scope thereofasexpressed in the appended claim.-

In the drawings: Figure l is adetail sectional view through a sufcientportion ofthe fire box of a locomotive to illustrate the application ofkmy p improvement thereon. f n

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the 1mp theprovision ofV a jet formechanical or automatical stokers lFigure .i3 is an endview thereof.

` Figure 4 ,is` a. sectional viev7 on the line t-4 offigure 2. y y i nFigure 5, is a detail enlarged sectional view on the linel 5-5 of Figure2. VIn the ordinary steam jet construction: for

orchest isgarranged against the outer wall of the furnacebelow the doorandhas connecled'thereto a plurality of tubes which extend downwardlytherefrom: and have branches that pass through the said furnace wall andwhich branches are provided with coupled extensions that are connecteddirectly to the head of the jet. 2 The tubes are, of course,individually controlled by valves. The construction is complicated,requiresA a comparatively greater amountof time and labor in .the`installation thereof, does not permit of repairs or replacement ofparts in an easy manner and comprises a comparatively large number ofelements so as a whole the device is complicated, expensive inmanufacture and likewise expensive in installation. n,

lVith the improvement the steam chamber or chest is directly connectedto the head of the jet and, therefore, the parts are in longitudinalalinement. This permits of the improvement being arranged in the,doorway`of the furnace', and only necessitating a partial vcutting awayof the lower portion of the door.

The steam receiving member of the improvementis in the. nature of ametal block, and is also in the. nature of a steam chest and Will beythus hereinafter referred to. The chest is indicated by the numeral 1and ymechanical stokers the steam inletvchamber the steam compartmenttherein by the numeral 2. `The outer straight ywall vof thev steam chestl is bored to provide any des ired number of longitudinally arrangedy'equidistantly spaced threaded openings, and -in each of theseopenings, there is screwed linner wall of thechamber 2 the block conaofistituting the steam chest is bored to provide threaded openings that arearranged each directly opposite the openings in which the nipples 3 arescrewed. These openings are smaller than the openings for the nipplesand screwed in these openings there are other nipples The nipples 5 haveheaded ends that are received in the chamber 2, and the bore of thedevice, at the heads thereof are preferably flared and provide seats forthe conical ends 7 of needle valves 8. The valves 8 have threadedportions .fl-that are screwed through the nipples 3, and theouter endsof the nipples have screwed thereon cap nuts 1() which are in the natureof packing boxes and through which the valves' 8 pass. The outer ends ofthe valves are squared, as at 11, for the reception of a suitable Wrenchor vhandle whereby the separate valves may be regulated with respect totheir seats. y

The. inlet pipe for the chamber of the steam chest is verticallydisposed and is indicated by the numeral 12. vThe passage through thispipe is controlled by'a hand valve 18, and the pipe is, el course,directed to the steam supply.

The distributor or jet head is also in the nature of a metal block, andas a. whole the same is indicated by the numeral 1li. The outer end ofthe head is rounded, and the Y inner end thereof is formed with awidened a gasket and thickened portion 15 that is centrally formed witha` substantially rectangular lug 16 to be received in the pocket ordepression Ll in the inner face of the valve chest. Passing throughopenings inV the end 15 of the head lll, and through similar openings inthe steam chest there are holt members 17 engaged by the usual nuts 18.The bolt members compress between the confronting surfaces of the steamchest andthe head 1e This insures a fluid tight joint between theelements constituting the im# provement.

The nozzle head 14 is provided with longitudinally arranged preferablyequidistantly spaced passages 2O which communicate between the straightand rounded ends of the head. These passages 2O also communicate withopenings 19 in the gasket, the said openings being disposed opposite thevalve seats or nipples 5. The rounded outer end of the head has screwedtherein nozzles 21 which communicate with the respective passages 20.

As disclosed by Figure 1 of the drawings., the nozzle end of the jethead 111 is arranged directly over the vertical conveyor housing 22 ofthe stoker, and the mouth or outlet of the housing is surrounded by aprotecting grate 23 .of the usual construction.

yVith my improvement the fireman, by merely opening` the door 24 of thefurnace 25., can observe the force of spray through kcheaplymanufactured.

'expensive proposition.

the pressure through the several nozzles so,

that the fuel will be 'spread evenly over the entire grate surface ofthe lire box. The' steam inlet to the steam chest can be read-ilycontrolled by operating the valve 18. The improvement is of an extremelysimple construction, which may be easily installed, and

The parts constitnting the improvement may be readily disassociated forreplacements or repairs with- `out requiring a great amount of physicalexertion.` The advantages of my improvement will, it is thought, ,beperfectly apparent and appreciated by those skilled in the art to whichsuch invention relates.

lfVith my improvement should the fireman on the locomotive or in theterminal leave the fire so thatv the same gets into the stoker pot underthe distributor and burn this portion of the device the end of thedistributor could be easily taken oil and a new end applied withoutrenewing the whole distributor. Otherwise, this would be. a very Thus bymaking my improvement of a two piece casting`,the trouble and expenseusually occurring from this cause is greatly reduced. Also my particularconstruction eliminates the necessity of making new valve bonnets andspuds and drilling out and tappingthe steam chest so that new parts canbe applied. Alsol the distributorl canbeapplied well below the highvelocity in the upper part of the lire box, making it positively surethat an equal distribution of coal can be `placed in the fire box at alltimes and under any and all conditions. Furthermore should it bel Afoundnecessary to make any repairs tothe distributor at any time, thedistributor can be taken out of the fire boX without smouldering orotherwise interfering with the fire and repairs can thcn'hemade to thedistributor while the same :an be `again readily applied. This is nottrue with respect to any other class of distributors with which l amacquaint-ed.

Having described the invention, I claim In an apparatus of theclassdescribed, a steam distributor head, having an outer rounded end,and substantially equidistantly spaced longitudinal passages extendingtherethrough, nozzles screwed in the head and communicating with therespective passages, said head having an inner thickened and widened endthat is centrally formed with a lug, a steam chest'comprisinga blockhaving a steam chamber therein and'having one of its faces formed witha-po'cket to receive thelug of the distributor head therein, acompressible gasket between the confronting ends of the steam chest andhead, removable means connecting the chest and head, nipples screwedthrough 'thesteam Chest and communicating with the respective passagesin the head, outer and larger nipples screwed through the outer end of asteam chest and arranged opposite thejrst mentioned nipples, needleValves screwed through the last mentioned'nipples and nding` seats inthe first mentioned nipples, a

packing box on the last mentioned nipples for each ofthe needle valvesand a Valve controlled steam inlet pipe for the chamber l0 of the steamchest.

vIn testimony whereof I aix my signature. y

GLENN o. WILLHIDE.

